I watched the Country Music Association awards last week hoping to be entertained. Sadly, that did not happen.

In fact, I was so bored that my channel surfing had me giving more time to dogs driving Subarus than who was performing on the CMAs. You have to admit, that is bad!

My fingers were crossed big time for Kelly Clarkson who was up for two statuettes, Best Female Artist and Musical Event of the Year with Vince Gill.

Clarkson didn’t win either of her nominated categories, but being nominated certainly said enough. She’s not a country singer, but she proved she can hold her own when she does.

Clarkson lost to the category’s only true country artist, Miranda Lambert. All the other women favor the pop side vs. traditional country. I was glad Lambert won over Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Kacy Musgraves.

Lambert and her husband, Blake Shelton, are the reigning stars of country music right now. Both saw their efforts honored numerous times during the telecast. Shelton won for Best Male Artist and the coveted Album Of The Year awards.

Shelton’s an overall good guy, too. I’ve met him on two occasions and each time he seemed rather genuine. He was the most deserving of the night’s biggest honor, Entertainer of the Year, but that was graciously given to country music legend George Strait. Strait recently finished his farewell tour, which might be why the CMA’s chose to honor him this final time. This marked his third time receiving the distinction.

Strait and Alan Jackson also gave the night’s best performance when they paid homage to the late George Jones. Strait and Jackson sang Jones’ “He Stopped Loving her Today,” arguably the best country song of all time.

What Strait and Jackson showed was that if you can simply stand there, sing and still move an audience, you’re what country music is all about. That’s something many others could not do that night. I felt bad for Alison Krauss and Gill, who performed as backup to Swift. Krauss and Gill are the most decorated country music artists ever and they were second whistle to Swift. I’m not sure how I felt about that.

As the performances continued, I began to realize something that makes complete sense. Most of the newer country music acts don’t really look, sound or perform like country artists. Perhaps they’re in the country field, since it’s probably much easier to break into the genre verses other genres. Florida Georgia Line is the best example. The duo’s annoying song “Cruise” is not country to me. I don’t care how many drawls they add.

Page 2 of 2 - Swift made a splash even though she was shut out of the leading categories. She was a co-winner with Tim McGraw and and Keith Urban for their combined efforts on McGraw’s “Highway Don’t Care.”

The CMAs did, however, choose to honor Swift with the Pinnacle Award for her overall world-wide status as a country music artist. I find that rather humorous, since Swift is much more of a pop star outside the U.S.

David T. Farr is a Journal Correspondent. Email him at farrboy@hotmail.com.